Intro to Microsound: 4-part Max/MSP Gen~ course

What does a 41000th of a second sound like?

Intro to Microsound is a 4-session course introducing students to the Gen~ programming environment inside of MaxMSP. Graham Wakefield, a student of Curtis Roads, created Gen~ to allow for the visually patching and coding of audio at the level of an individual sample of digital signal (i.e. the programs we will write will run more than 41000 times per second).

In the course of 4 weeks, we will go from constructing sound one single sample at a time to diffusing dynamic and long-form sonic textures via microsound techniques such as granular and pulsar synthesis. We will also discuss multichannel and hardware applications (e.g. mc.gen~ and OopsyDaisy).

Four Thursdays 6-8pm

February 27
March 6
March 20
March 27

In-person at ESS, 5925 N. Ravenswood Ave.

Workshop fee is inclusive of all four dates. Because the sessions build upon one another, we are not taking reservations for individual dates.

This course serves as a technical introduction to Gen~ couched in the environment’s conceptual strengths: microsound and processual composition. We welcome both experienced sound programmers as well as brave newcomers; both will walk about with new techniques and new ways of thinking about working with sound.

Students will download a custom code library developed to speed up iteration. It will include examples that you'll be invited to study ahead of class. It will also include some custom operators (you may know this as abstractions or objects in Max/MSP or functions in programming languages).

During class, we’ll rebuild through the examples, with opportunity to ask questions about presented materials. Sometimes there may also be ~30 mins of unstructured work time, when you can ask the instructors questions particular to your own explorations.

Garrett Laroy Johnson is a sound and media artist, theorist, educator, activist, and programmer. His work leverages the legacies of cybernetic thought in ecology and subjectivity in the design of installations and performance environments. Historically they have performed with cello and electronics, laptop orchestras and performance, created interactive dance pieces, as well as sound and media installations. Garrett has performed, installed, and given talks internationally, including at Goldsmiths, at the Kennedy Center, the National Academy of Sciences, and in Paris, Montreal, Copenhagen, Italy, and across the US. They received a PhD in Media Arts and Sciences in December 2022 from the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering at Arizona State University and a certificate in critical theory. He is the founding lead of an artist-run platform called CCAM, the Center for Concrete and Abstract Machines, which works at the nexus of art, technology, and contemporary thought in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. They currently teach graduate seminars and studios at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and University of Illinois Chicago.

Host or Publisher Experimental Sound Studio